The Dining Table Chronicles Vol. 2

have been sanding the table like a crazy person. Actually, I think that sanding the table has in many ways kept me from becoming a crazy person. School has been really stressful and I have literally been dreaming about my projects, but the little relief I have is when I work on the table. It gives me a chance to step away from my work, let my thoughts marinate, and get re-energized for homework. I really wanted to work on this project alone but since I was sanding by hand I felt limited and really like I lacked the strength and power to fully sand down a few spots on the table so I had to bring in Patrick to sand for about an hour or two. I was so grateful to have him help because the stain was not coming out and I had sanded for several hours and seemed to not make a dent but Patrick came in and almost sanded through the table, I had to keep a close eye on him and he actually over sanded in a spot but hopefully no one notices.

The Long Long Hike

ast March I registered for the Summer session, I was ambitious and I signed up for three normally difficult classes but as time creeped on and it neared time to actually take those classes I realized that those normally difficult classes were going to drain me mentally and physically because summer session means that all the hard work happens in half the time. I made the wise choice to drop a class and switch a class. And that is the long-ish story of how I ended up in a photography class.

So the reason I decided on taking a photography class is because 1) I wanted to practice taking pictures (that is also one of the reasons I started a blog) and 2) I knew that taking a class that forced me to get out of the house was the only way I was going to have a fun summer and not stay inside feeling consumed by homework. My first photo adventure took Patrick and me to Mt. Diablo State Park. It took us only about a 30 minute drive further into the East Bay and then 12 hours to conquer the mountain. At 18 miles this was the most difficult hike I have ever been on–mentally and physically, and despite climbing over 3,500 feet to reach the summit, it was coming down that was really the challenge. I had assumed that coming down would be difficult– down is difficult for me because I have bad knees and the the pressure of downhill hikes can get really intense but going down Mt. Diablo was super duper difficult because the trails we followed down were super gravelly and that meant super slippery. I fell down numerous times and got the bruises on my butt to prove it. I am pretty sure that at one stretch it took us nearly an hour to walk one mile (downhill!) Anyways, it was definitely worth all the hard work and I had a great time so if you are ever in the area I recommend you check it out. P.S. the pictures below are a few I showed to my photography class

Not Quite a Vacation

riday morning Patrick and I headed to Modesto where we met up with his mom and then headed down to Big Bear. The ride was long and hot (despite the air conditioning) but I got some good nap time with Patches, Patrick's 17 year old family cat!  Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this portion of the trip because my camera was packed away and beyond my reach, and I am still trying to get used to taking pictures all the time, hopefully the photography class I am taking this summer will help with that. 

We woke up early Saturday morning (in my favorite room ever!) and got straight to work unloading the Pod, it was heavy, dirty work(there was a lot of tools) but with six of us helping it was finished by two o'clock. We were pooped from the day but wanted to try and take advantage of being at the lake so we went fishing. We didn't catch any fish but we did find an abandoned canoe. The wind and lack of fish got the best of us so we called it quits and headed back to the cabin (or lake house.)

By 12:30pm Sunday we were in the car and headed back north, this time with Patrick's brother, his girlfriend, and we got cuddly with Ranger. Once again the ride was hot, since a lot of the ride is through the Mojave Desert, and the ride was long, especially long while I was feeling car sick. Patrick and I made it back to Oakland around 9pm and pretty much went straight to sleep since we had to wake up early the next morning. While this trip wasn't exactly a vacation it was nice to get out of town for a few days and to see the beautiful California landscape, and of course it was nice to help Patrick's parents move into their new home.